Maidentrip

Maidentrip is about Laura, a 14 year old girl from Holland who wanted to be the youngest to sail around the world alone. People thought she was crazy for wanting to even try it and there was even a 10 month long court case that tried to stop her. But that was not enough to stop her. She and her father won the case and she set sail in August 2010. She did not bring a support team or allowed anyone to follow her in case of an emergency. Even the documentary crew was not able to follow her along her journey while she was at sea. All of the filming that was done while she was sailing was done by her. The crew would film what they could while she was docked at one of the many stops she would make. It would take her 2 years to complete her trip around the world. The reason it would take her so long to complete her trip is because she wanted to see the world, not just sail around it. So, she visited many places, like the Canary Islands, St. Maarten, the Panama Canal, Australia, South Africa,  and .

She also met people while she was sailing around the world that she felt that she really connected with. She even thought of one couple she met in Panama as her family, which I thought was really amazing. To think that someone can meet someone else halfway across the world and think of them as family is fantastic and it gives me hope in life. It makes me feel like there is something greater out there that I haven't discovered yet and it's just a really great feeling to have.


I thought Laura had a great outlook on life. Even in the storms she would call the waves that collapsed over the deck of her boat "beautiful." She marveled at how quickly the sun would go down and how magnificent it was to blast through the waves in the midst of a storm. She would talk about the islands she would see in the Pacific and how she could never imagine that they were real because of how perfect they looked. It's things like these that just give people joy and happiness; knowing that there is so much beauty in the world. I also liked her outlook on life because I was able to see her frustrations as well as her happiness. It also showed how she grew to care very little about being the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe. She really just wanted to be free and to find somewhere that made her feel free. It added an authenticity to her and it made her more real to the audience. I think this documentary really showed who Laura was and I loved it a lot.

Virunga

Another documentary that I have really enjoyed watching is Virunga. This film revolves around the people who put all of their effort and ultimately their lives into preserving the Virunga National Park in the Congo of Africa and its inhabitants. This park is the location of the last of the mountain gorillas and the park rangers help defend them, as well as other animals that live there. The gorillas needed defending due to poachers killing the parents of gorilla families and taking the children to sell. The rangers act as protectors and as parents of the mountain gorillas that have lost their parents. They will continue to do so until they are strong enough and healthy enough to survive on their own.
The park also had a great effect on the country economically and socially, which gave the people hope that it will heal their country from past wars and disputes.
However, a civil war broke out in the Congo and made it more difficult for people to defend the gorillas and the park. This was due to the Rwanda genocide in 1994. It was said that many of the killers escaped into Congo and caused conflict there. There was also a high demand for oil and minerals found in Congo. It was illegal to search for oil in the park, but  British company that was after it, forced their way in through bribery and force. The park reacted in documenting everything and using the footage they had as a way of defending their park as well as others throughout Congo. It is this footage that makes up the majority of the documentary. It isn't long thought before merely recording everything was not enough and the rangers were forced to defend themselves and the park station physically, as the British company as well as the rebels refused to back down.

At the end of the movie, those who shot the film asked for the viewers to help support those who were defending Virunga park. I don't think their sole reason for filming this documentary was to ask this of the audience, but rather to tell the story of these mountain gorillas and those who had adopted them. But those who are a threat to them are still around and illegally searching for oil. So, what better way to help the park rangers defend the park than to use this documentary, right? I thought it had a powerful message about life and right and wrong and it is one that should be taken seriously.

(If you would like to watch this, it is on Netflix and I would highly recommend it. It is beautifully filmed.)

Blackfish

In the documentary, Blackfish, viewers learned that Sea World got their orca whales as any other marine life facility: They hunted them. Hunters would track families of whales and, originally, they deliberately took the babies. They were told it was merely for the shipping costs, but…they took a mother’s children. One of the workers recalled crying as he captured them. He hated hearing the whales crying out to one another because he knew what they must have been feeling in those moments. “It’s like kidnapping a little kid away from a mother” he said. It has been proven that orcas are very capable of feeling strong emotions. In fact, they are more equipped than humans are, since they have a part of the brain that develops emotions farther than a human's brain.

A lot of the trainers that worked with the whales claimed that their initial reaction to working with them was a great experience. They built a relationship with the whales and they felt as thought they grew up together. However, this was not always the case. In Sealand, here had been a trainers who would use a technique that involved punishment and the withholding food, which, in the long run, could seriously abuse the whales whether it was by the hand of the trainer or by another frustrated whale. This had become common and eventually, due to the frustration and possible psychosis of the whale, there was an accident that resulted in the death of an employee. Another instant that involved the same whale, occurred when he lunged at another trainer, attempting to pull her into the tank. There were over seventy similar instances.  After such occurrences, it became more clear that the only relationship that the trainers had was based on food.

The main purpose of this film is to show just how wrong it is to keep these whales in captivity. People against the captivity of the whales argued that captivity caused whales to become unpredictable. What’s more is that these whales had spent a great deal of time in these tanks so some argued that it could be because of this large amount of time that they would have become hostile. There hasn't been any record of an orca showing aggression in the wild. The only reason why they are now is because of their frustration of their captivity.

(If you're interested in watching this documentary, you can find it on Netflix)

sigur rós

I don’t even know where to begin. I love this band so much. I can’t believe I had never heard of them before we talked about them in class. The video we watched completely mesmerized me. So much that I actually ended up using their music and their video as my main inspiration for a novella I am writing for my creative writing class. Technically, I had already decided on a topic for the project, but when I heard their music, I could not get all of the new ideas out of my mind and I discarded the first idea I had because I could not ignore them. It transports you into a completely different realm. Somewhere magical and full of life and I love it so much.

Quiz 2

             So far, one of my favorite short films that we've watched in class has been "For the Birds."  I think the main reason why I liked it so much was because it highlighted how people tend to dislike things or people that are different than they are, even if those things are genuinely good. I see this a lot in today's society and I think a film like this can really help with the issue.

            I also liked this short film because at no point did the larger bird, who had been made fun of almost the entire length of the film, did not decide to hate the little birds who were so mean to him. Instead, he continued trying to be kind and friendly to them and I think that's a really good lesson for people to learn as well. In the end, the little birds were forced to deal with the consequences of their unkindness without the larger bird seeking revenge. I think we as humans tend to seek revenge against the things that do wrong to us, forgetting that it isn't up to us at all to make sure that people face their consequences. I'm not sure if this was Pixar's intention, but this became one of the film's main themes to me and I thought they did an excellent job of delivering it.

Undertale

This is kind of mixing it up, since Undertale is a video game, but this game deserves some serious credit when it comes to raising some big questions about media and video games in general. When a player is in Undertale the player is forced take morals under consideration, which isn’t something that is usually done. In most game, the objective is to defeat your opponent and move on. Undertale makes the game question w

hether or not defeating them is the only option. While being blocked by a character in a game, the player's initial reaction is to try and kill them. In Undertale, it is very possible to do this, but it isn’t the only option. You are then faced with the option of killing for the sake of getting through the game easier, or to show mercy to those you have to get past.

              And another thing, there is no such thing as a reset. Once you have killed someone in the game, the game will remember it and it will have an effect on future run-throughs whether it is thought a character’s dialogue or even the outcome of the game. Crazy right? It really brings to light how mindless gamers can be when it comes to combat games and Undertale brings that issue to light. Even if a player chooses to kill every character they come across, they are forced to face the fact that they are choosing to kill someone. I think it’s really cool that the creator of this game was able to find solid ways of bringing a sense of reality to the gaming world.

The Portrayal of Women in Children's Media

So here we have the question of how women have been portrayed in media. Or at least how I see it has been portrayed. As far as early Disney princesses, I’m not too impressed. To be quite honest, other than being kind to others, there is nothing positive young girls can really learn from them. The only perceivable way they can achieve their dreams is through a man and, more directly, marriage. Cinderella could only be saved from her wicked step mother if the prince came to find her and Sleeping Beauty and Snow White could only wake up from their curses if her prince awoke her with a kiss.

              Recently, things have been taking a turn for the better as far as how women are portrayed in Media. Take Star Wars for instance. Princess Leia is a total BA. Even when Jabba the Hutt tried to sexualize her, she strangled him. This is a more extreme reaction, but it does show that she can get things done instead of waiting for someone to save her. The same goes for Rey; she can get things done and does not let anything hold her back from doing what is right, which I think is something young girls and kids in general will benefit from seeing.

Over the Garden Wall

One of the forms of media that is consumed by children are cartoons. While I personally think some of the cartoons could be a whole lot better, there are a few of them I really like. My personal favorites is Over the Garden Wall. It’s not the pentacle of children’s media, but I think it is pretty enjoyable.

Over the Garden Wall is ten part mini-series that is actually based off of an award winning short film called “Into the Unknown.” It’s about two step brothers who are lost in the woods (which is called The Unknown) and the adventures that they go on while trying to find their way back home. They run into different magical creatures, including a talking bird who joins them on their journey. It isn’t all rainbows and sunshine though. The two brothers are forced to face The Beast, which is a monster that leads souls away from the path and torments them until they give up and turn into trees (which, by burning this kind of tree, keeps the beast alive).**SPOILERS** Throughout the show you get hints as to where the brothers are from, but in the last couple of episodes you realize that they are from the modern world The Unknown in is not a part of Earth at all, but really a form of Limbo. The two brothers themselves are lost souls and The Beast determined to use them as a life source. However, it os determined that “their time” has not come yet and after defeating the Beast, they wake up in a hospital, back on Earth.

So yeah, there are some pretty dark themes in the show, but it is my absolute favorite cartoon to watch. I watched it all in one day to be honest so if anyone is looking for something to watch, this is a really great one. 

Happy Endings

Last time the class met, the topic of how much wishful thinking should be encouraged through media. If you ask me, this is a huge can of worms begging to be opened. We want to be honest with kids, but cutting out all forms of hopeful thinking is a ridiculous approach. Telling a kid that there is no such thing as a happy ending is just as much of a lie as telling them a fairy godmother will fix all of their problems for them. So, instead of telling them either of those things, I think it is more important to find a middle ground between the two. Believing in even the possibility of a happy ending is something that I think will positively affect someone. It’s easy to say that these endings are simply not how things work out in real life; that there are no happy endings in the real world and that the sooner children come to terms with that, the better. However, I think that is a very cynical view on the world. Sure, there are no fairy godmothers that appear every time things don’t go our way, but God does look out for us. And yeah

, endings aren’t always “happy,” but chances are, they aren’t tragic ones either. There is no such thing as being so far gone that you can’t make your way back to the top and there is no such thing as too much hope. Yes, bridges can be burnt and relationships can take a turn for the worst, but I refuse to believe that it is wrong to teach kids that it is okay to hope for the best.

Creating Art and the Veil between us and the Truth

By Lethargic Lizard

I think creating art is a wonderful thing that God has blessed us with. He's given us the ability to create, how amazing is that? God has blessed us with many gifts and talents and it is His intention for them to be put to use. Why give someone the ability to design a beautiful garden or the ability to paint if those who are given those abilities will never put them to use? He wants us to use them. He loves it when we use them, actually because when we do, we are honoring Him. Even if we are creating a sculpture that depicts violence or filming a movie that has a lot of sexual content. It’s not about being “clean” or “family-friendly,” it’s about telling the truth and doing our best to do that truth justice. The world is not pretty, but there are endless lessons that can be learned from it.

But here’s the thing, there are countless lessons that are to be learned and no one is going to learn the same lesson as someone else and it is impossible for someone to learn that exact same truth as someone else useless they have experienced the same thing themselves. (It's like how people say they know how someone else feels, and yet they might not have any idea of what the other person is actually feeling. )What's more is that somethings only happen once or differently the second time around. There is a veil between the actual truth and what our idea of the truth is and the only way to fully know the truth is to experience it yourself. Art does not break through that veil completely, nothing does, but I would argue that it does bring us closer to knowing the actual truth. By letting some of the mess of the world into our creations, we are allowing others to learn from those lessons too by bringing them closer to the actual truth of a situation and to know the effects of it.

And because we have been created by God, there will always be a part of Him that shows through our own creations, by filling us (the artists) with His spirit, as stated in Exodus.  I don’t think it’s a question of being “clean” at all, but rather about telling the truth through our art. No matter what, God’s truth will be portrayed one way or another and I think it is important to explore all forms of art and creation so we can bring justice to that truth.

Fairy Tales and Adulthood

As kids most of us loved Fairy Tales whether it was through watching Disney movies or reading the Chronicles of Narnia. We loved the adventures that characters went on and the magic around them. And we never had to worry whether or not things would turn out alright in the end because they all seemed to have a happy ending (unless you’re talking about Brothers Grimm, because that’s a whole other side of Fairy Tales). But as we grew up, those movies and books were replaced with others that are more commonly accepted as suited for our age group. Fairy Tales were left behind in the box of old kid stuff and it’s kind of sad that it is. Think about it. We live in a world where tragedy and stress is all around us and we tend to be serious most of the time. Sometimes, things seem to be completely hopeless. So why did we cut out the things that bring us a sense of hope when, even as adult, we can find an escape in them?

 

Take Once Upon a Time for instance. It’s a TV show that resolves around the lives of Fairy Tale characters that are thrown into the modern world and its audience is meant to be anyone. The show focuses on the act of giving second chances and the hope that those chances can give someone.      Even the villains are given a second chance and you can see them start to change for the better because of it. It shows their audience that anyone has a chance at a happy ending and I think that is very important for someone to remember.

             

Another example of Fairy Tales themes in entertainment for adults are Wes Anderson movies like Moonrise Kingdom and The Grand Budapest Hotel. They are almost exclusively aimed at an older audience, but they have the whimsy and the creative style of fairytales. They are also light hearted, but have solid truths to them that the audience can apply to their life, which is something most fairy tales share. 

These are all making it possible for adults to relive their childhood and to find the hope that the fairytales they read had to offer. Shouldn't we take advantage of that escape from reality?

Books vs TV/Movies

It doesn't make very much sense to me why someone can say that they were up all night reading a great book and someone else will think that's really cool and then turn around and think it's terrible is someone stays up all night watching a TV show. It’s true that books tend to make their audience think more than TV shows and movies do, given that readers are forced to create an image in their head as they read, but I think shows and movies deserve a little more credit. There’s a reason why we binge watch shows like The X-Files and Lost on Netflix, right? It’s because of the story that is being told and how the writers and directors are telling that story. We want more and as far as I can tell, binge watching shows is practically the same thing as staying up all night reading a book that you just can’t get enough of.

There are also things that can be shown through a visual aid that can’t though words in a book.  Take Monster’s Inc for example. When Boo hugs Sully in one of the last scenes of the movie, the audience is shown Sully’s expression and reaction to the hug. There is so much emotion on both ends and it is left to the audience to interpret it and each member of that audience will interpret it differently and find the meaning that will resonate the most with themselves. If this scene was portrayed in the form of words, these emotions would be crammed into the confinements of words and their meanings and connotations to each of their readers when there is so much more to what is happening.

And yet, people are still certain that books are the peak of entertainment? I mean, I still respect books as much as the next person, most of the time, the book IS better than the movie, but just because novels are a respected form of art, doesn’t mean there isn’t any room left for television and movies.

My sister, Alissa (left), and I (right).      

Intro:     

       Hey everyone, I'm Danielle. I originally lived in Streator IL, but as a pastor's kid, I've moved around on numerous occasions so it's probably easier to say I'm from Illinois and just leave it at that. I'm a Creative Writing and Business major and a sophomore. Ultimately, I want to be a book publicist/editor, but being paid for my own writing would be amazing. 
          
        I like to think of myself as a very artistic person. I love drawing and painting, as well as playing music (mostly piano and ukulele). I also write a ton and read even more (at least when I'm not being bombarded with papers and exams to prepare for). I also keep journals that are really colorful and artsy-fartsy. 

Favorites:

Musicians: Adele, The Lumineers, Twenty One Pilots, and Owl City. 
Movies: The Grand Budapest Hotel, La Belle Et La Bete, the Star Wars movies, and SO                           MANY others that I can't think of at the moment. Anything with a good story to it.
Books: The Book Thief, Room, Eleanor and Park, The Silver Linings Playbook, and The Kite               Runner.
TV Shows: Once Upon a Time (even though the writers are doing a terrible job lately),                                  Downton Abbey, Mr. Selfridge, Friends, and Parks and Recreation. Almost                                  anything, really.

Random Facts:

I make a lot of puns. I play video games ( mostly Skyrim, Undertale, and Don't Starve). I take a lot of naps even when I shouldn't. I love toads. a lot. If I was sorted into a Hogwarts house it would be Hufflepuff. I also eat peanut butter by the spoonful which probably isn't the best for me, but... protein, right?